I try to get to MACUL every year. I think it's a great conference to stay updated and also network and collaborate with other local professionals in technology. I think there were some solid sessions. I come to these conferences with an open mind. Though I may know most of what they are talking about, I find that I see things through a different lens or learn a new way to use a resource. I think that's pretty cool. I always love thinking, "Wow, I didn't even think about that!"

I brought six of our elementary school technology leaders with me this year. It's important to me that there are strong technology leaders within each building. My hope is that each building has a resource to go to in-house. Maybe not the perfect system, but something is better than nothing, in my opinion, and teachers and students need strong technology support. Not just for technical aspects, but also for ideas on how to integrate technology thoughtfully into instruction. That's the key. I am lucky to work with such dedicated and strong elementary building leaders. They meet voluntarily and they are always willing to share their ideas and thoughts on the direction of technology at the K-5 level. An awesome group.

This year at MACUL was a little different for me as Jill Hill (ROMS technology integrationist) and myself presented on transitioning the 'media center' to a commons model. At the beginning of the presentation I discussed how the 'Commons Model' and active flexible learning spaces were synonymous in my mind. We are starting with the hub of our building. Our Commons is the biggest meeting space in the building. The space has the potential to cater to the many different types of learners we have in the building. We need to be able to accommodate the different learning modalities.

The goal of our presentation was to help others in their journey for flexible, active learning spaces. We provided an outline of our general process, discussed the changes in not only space, but also mind and pedagogy. It's not a change in JUST furniture. It is a change in practice. How we look at spaces. How we use resources. How we teach with those two in mind. The way we teach today in 2017 isn't how we taught in 2010. It shouldn't be. Change is scary, but inevitable. We must start shifting our thinking to what the 2017 learner needs.

Here are the three most important highlights from our presentation:

Make sure you have a solid vision and philosophy. Everything you do within your position and every decision you make should support that vision. Everyone will have a different vision and philosophy. Why? Because they are personal to each building and culture.

Develop clear systems, supports, and teams. A lot of systems have to be developed because there is literally no one there to do certain tasks any longer. It allows you to be more efficient in your practices to help teachers and students. Having strong leadership teams is a must. Everyone is moving the building in the same direction, which means that the team needs to be on the same page. Sometimes I want to stop looking at job positions as "that's your job and this is my job," and shift to... "It is collectively our job to educate students." I think we would move faster. However, that requires a lot of trust in your teammates.

Ownership of spaces is disappearing. We no longer have an 'owned' and controlled space. I talked very candidly about how the ROHS Learning Commons is NOT my space. It's OUR space. This is a space for use by students and teachers any time. If it is used for the purpose of providing positive learning experiences then it's open to use freely. Obviously it goes without saying that professional courtesy is necessary. Everyone is accountable for spaces and technology. When ownership is shared, everyone involved has responsibilities. :)

Despite both Jill and I being sick, we managed to make it through the presentation. I think it went well. I'm not sure how Jill feels, but I do think it's important to share our process because it may help someone else on their journey. It was my first time speaking at MACUL. Not going to lie... it was kind of scary. Ha! It can only get better from here, right? :)

Below is what I wrote up in my document for K-5 Technology Leaders. You may find the resources helpful. If you want the notes from the other sessions to look through, feel free to email me and I'll share my folder with you.​

"Google Classroomhttp://lesliefisher.com/resources/presentation-handoutsI went to Leslie’s Google Classroom session. I am pretty solid on how it works, but she always adds new little tips and tricks that I normally don’t know. Her presentation style to me, is really easy to get. She is fast and she loads her presentation with tons of information. The URL above is a link to not only her Google Classroom presentation sheets, but also all of her presentations. You may not be able to use all of them, but you can definitely use a great day.

Wearable Technologyhttps://goo.gl/fMMKWxI checked out wearable technology. Mike is a cool guy. A former music teacher now tech guru. He’s pretty awesome. You can follow him on twitter. Basically wearable technology is basic circuitry, but could get pretty advanced if you keep building into it, coding it, and adding additional items such as sensors, etc.

3D Printinghttps://sites.google.com/site/ipadmultimediatools/3d-printingThis website has much more than 3D printing. It was more tailored to Dremel printers, but I think it’s worth a look at because there are other categories she has put on her website and the idea of designing in 3D regardless of printing is interesting. Maybe a sponsored club? Let me know if you want to talk about this more.

BreakOut EDUhttp://www.breakoutedu.com/It’s basically a set up game that has students going through problems in teams to find the answers. They then put it together to ‘break out’ or open the box or solve the puzzle, etc. It’s the concept of the escape rooms. It’s cool, but expensive. You can totally make your own kit. I am going to work with our forensic teacher on building a forensics activity that will be an assessment. However, Breakout has tons of already made ‘games’. Since I have bought a couple, I can give you the code so you can look through the games. If you want to see one or sit down and try to build one, let me know! :)

Learning Commons / Flexible Active Learning SpacesJill Hill and I presented on this topic because we are transitioning spaces at the secondary level into active flexible learning spaces. Starting with the old Media Centers. I’m sure you have seen some spaces in your buildings starting to transition. We talked about our process, research and shared resources. "